My wife doesn't have alot of strength in her fingers. She also has fairly long manicured fingernails. We're always looking for rig to board connections that she can easily do and undo by herself.

What doesn't work are North euro-pin buttons and standard Chinook spring clips.

What has been working best is the old Gorge-Technology spring clips and cups that have the 'extensions' on the clips. We combine that with mechanical universal joints. But those Gorge-Technology clips/cups aren't made anymore, and our next to last one just popped off in the water.

My wife doesn't have alot of strength in her fingers. She also has fairly long manicured fingernails. We're always looking for rig to board connections that she can easily do and undo by herself.

What doesn't work are North euro-pin buttons and standard Chinook spring clips.

What has been working best is the old Gorge-Technology spring clips and cups that have the 'extensions' on the clips. We combine that with mechanical universal joints. But those Gorge-Technology clips/cups aren't made anymore, and our next to last one just popped off in the water.

Any ideas?

I think the easiest connection is a mechanical joint paired with a standard Europin (not North) which connects to an extension with a single push-button.

I've sailed many, and my favorite connection is used by Fiberspar. It works without much force and holds in gnarly conditions. The button is concave, so it is nice on the fingers. While the Chinook system works great, the button seems to grind finders against the walls of the extension. Perhaps that is an intentional design to prevent clogging with sand but it seems a bit less friendly to cold and wet fingers. Not all will agree with me on that, of course.

Whichever base system you select, I strongly suggest spraying all moving parts with McLube Sailquick and rinsing thoroughly with fresh water after every session. Even salt crystals can increase friction noticeably._________________Support Your Sport. Join US Windsurfing!
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My vote goes to the Streamlined Euro-pin set up. My wife has no problem whatsoever using it. All other systems we used before it were a problem. In addition, the pulley alignment allows for easier downhauling. Again, my wife can fully downhaul our Revo sails with only an easy rig with the Streamlined set up. Choose the more expensive one with ball bearing pulleys.

I had a streamline. IT was nice BUT it used a plastic cleat. And from my experience, plastice cleats will wear out. Anytime a line slips in the cleat (while rigging or derigging) it wears away the plastic cleat, rendering the cleat either non functioning or barely holding the line. I wish they would use a metal cleat like chinook.

Skyking, I have 8 Streamlined extensions between SDM and RDM and none have plastic cleats and lines have never slipped while cleated. They had a design flaw in earlier models that one of the bolts holding the cleat/pulley apparatus together could fail and release the down haul by a could of inches (but you could always sail home). Their new model has been redesigned and strengthened that area. I had a couple of failures with the older model but Streamlined stood by the product and repaired them for me at no cost. The new design has been bullet proof to date. Good company with good customer service.

A separate issue from attaching to base for the Streamlined that to me is a big problem is that the quick-six pulleys and cleat do not line up well for using a rig winch (at least using Chinook rig winch, I struggled using a Streamlined extension). If the lady with weak fingers downhauls the sail herself using a winch, Streamlined quick-six extensions may not work well. dhmark

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